Footstool and leg rest



D. S. SATTLER ET AL FOOT STOOL AND LEG REST Filed Jan 16, 1928 Patented Dec. 4, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DENNIS S. SATTLER AND FREDERICK H. MCCUEN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FOOTSTOOL AND LEG REST.

Application filed January 16, 1928. Serial No. 247,161.

Our invention relates to a combined footstool and leg rest, and in its general objects aims to provide an article of furniture for use by a person sitting in a chair, to afford aconvenient foot rest and to support the calves of the users legs in a comfortable and restful position.

For a seated person, an ordinary foot-stool or hassock obliges the legs of the user to be bent so that he cannot be really comfortable for any considerable period of time. On the other hand, the resting of the feet on a chair or the like when the legs are extended is also tiring, because the calves of the legs are unsupported, so that the corresponding leg muscles are continuously strained, and also is tiresome because there is no support against which the soles of the users shoes can bear.

Our present invention aims to overcome all of these objections to the arrangements heretofore employed, and particularly aims to provide an article of furniture having the following characteristic features:

1) A relatively long and rigidly supported top inclined for supporting both the heels and the calves of the user.

(2) A foot-board rigidily held at such an angle to this top as to afford a comfortable and foot-resting bearing.

(3) A simple and strong bracing of the entire structure, particularly for the foot rest, which bracing is arranged so that it will not belittle the appearance of the complete structure.

(4) General firmness, ease of manufacture and low cost.

More particularly, ourinvention provides an article of furniture of this class in which ample firmness is secured in a combined leg support and foot rest in which the supporting risers can or leg members can each be sawed out of a single board, and in which one leg member is also disposed so to brace the foot rest.

Still further and also more detailed objects will appear from the following specification and from the accompanying drawings, in which drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a leg-resting foot-stool embodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a reduced side elevation of the same, with dotted lines showing the positions of a foot and lower limb of the user.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of a portion of the foot end of the same foot-stool.

Fig. l is a reduced. and fragmentary section, taken along the line 4% of Fig. 3,.

In the illustrated embodiment, our article of furniture includes two leg members each of which may be sawed out of a single board, namely a taller leg member 1 and a shorter leg member 2, which shorter leg member is wider than the taller one. Connecting the two leg members and secured to both are a pair of side rails 3 which preferably have their upper edges in a common inclined plane with the upper end of the taller leg member 1, and which side rails are respectively fastened to opposite edges of the taller leg member. These side rails have their other ends abutting againstthe inner face of the shorterleg member 2, and have their upper edges flush with the inner edge of the upper end of the shorter leg member. This shorter leg member has its faces at an oblique angle to the upper'edges of the side rails, and the upper end of this leg member is beveled downwardly toward and at right angles to the upper edges of the side rail edge, as shown in Fig. 3. The foot-board 4 of our article of furniture which foot-board may also be sawed out of a single board) has its lower end sawed off square, and resting upon the upper edges of both vside rails, and the lower portion of the outer face of the foot-board bears against the said beveled upper end of the shorter leg member 2. With the side rails and the shorter leg thus formed and disposed, the upper end of-that leg projects upwardly beyond the top of the side rails and engages the outward face of the foot-board 4, thereby affording a brace for the lower portion of the foot-board.

To complete the structure, we provide a top board 5 which rests on the upper edges of the two side rails and which abuts at its lower end against the said foot-board. When the parts as thus arranged are secured to one another, the lower end of the foot-board is effectively clamped between the beveled upper end of the shorter leg member and the adjacent end of-the top board, so that this clamping co-operates with the aforesaid bracing in holding the foot-board rigidly at right angles to the limb-supporting top. Consequently, we secure a rigid'mounting of the thrust-receiving foot-board without requiring any auxiliary bracing members for this purpose. The resulting article of furniture has its top and foot-board effectively disposed for a firm and restful supporting of the lower limb portions (and particularly the calves) of the user.

In practice, we preferably incline the shorter leg member somewhat toward the other leg member, so that the beveling of the upper end of the shorter leg member will not aiford so sharp a tip as to weaken its bracing eflect; and we desirably .also incline the taller leg member upwards toward the other leg memher, so as to secure a longer base of the footstool and so as to stiffen the structure against longitudinal strains. However, we do not wish to be limited to this inclination of the two leg members, nor to the right-angled dis-' position of the foot-board with respect to the limb-supporting top.

By making the taller leg member narrower than the foot-board and the shorter leg, we permit the side rails to be secured to opposite edges of the longer leg while also having these side rails underhang the top and abut against the shorter leg, thereby obtaining a firm construction with a minimum of sawing. To improve the appearance, we desirably space the side rails so that the top of our article of furniture will project laterally beyond both of these rails. To further enhance both the appearance and comfort, the

top and the foot board may also be up holstered, as shown for example in Fig. 1. However, we do not wish to be limited to this or other details of the construction and arrangement above described, since changes may obviously be made without departing either from the spirit of our invention or from the appended claims.

\Ve claim as our invention:

1. A foot stool and leg rest comprising a pair of leg members of unequal height inclined upwardly toward each other; a pair of side rails connecting the upper portions of the two leg members,the side rails having their upper edges in a common plane inclined upwardly away from the shorter leg member; a

top seated on the upper edges of the two side rails, and a foot-board clamped between the upper portion of the shorter leg member and the adjacent end of the said top.

2. A foot-stool and leg rest comprising a pair of leg members of unequal height inclined upwardly toward each other, a pair of side rails connecting the upper portions of the two leg members and having their upper edges in a common plane inclined upwardly away from the shorter leg member; atop seated on the upper edges of the two side rails and terminating at a short distance from the shorter leg member; and a foot-board seated at its lower end on the upper edges of the side rails and having its inner face bearing against the adjacent end of the said top, the foot-board being of a thickness corresponding to the said distance and the shorter leg member having its upper end inwardly beveled and extending beyond the side rails contiguous to the outer face of foot-board to clamp the latter against said adjacent end of the top.

3. A foot-stool and leg restcomprising a pair of leg members of unequal height, the shorter leg member having its upper end beveled downwardly toward the taller leg member; a pair of side rails connecting the two the leg members, the upper edges of the side rails being flush with the top of the taller leg member and with the lower edge of the said beveled upper end of the shorter leg memher; a foot board having its bottom seated on'the upper edges of the side rails and having the lower portion of its outer face bearing against the said beveled end, and atop seated on the upper edges of the side rails and having one end disposed for clamping the footboard against the said beveled end.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, January 14th, 1928.

DENNIS S. SATTLER. FREDERICK H. MGCUEN. 

